Page 26 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021

Image courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing

The present vase imitates the shape of archaic bronze vessels known See a very similar blue and white zun vase with dragon and phoenix
as zun. This archaistic trend has a long history and is rooted in design, Wanli six-character mark and of the period, in the Qing Court
Confucian ideas which perceived the ancient past, namely the early Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Zhou period, as a golden age of moral uprightness. Thus, scholars Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red
and Emperors across the centuries desired objects which emulated (II), Hong Kong, 2000, p.182, no.171. Another very similar blue and
archaic bronzes. See for example, a cloisonné enamel vase, early white vase with the same design, Wanli six-character mark and of the
Ming dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Compendium period, is in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qingzheng,
of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels, 1, Beijing, 2011, Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, pl.137. Another in the
pp.84-85, no.19. John Gardner Coolidge collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World’s Great Collection, vol.10,
The wave of enthusiasm for archaism reached the Court itself where Tokyo, 1980, pl.239. See also a related blue and white vase of the
it was adopted and adapted. The present vase for example is same archaistic zun shape, but decorated with figures around the
decorated with typical Courtly motifs such as the five-clawed dragon central section, Wanli six-character mark and of the period, in the
and phoenix, representing the Emperor and Empress. The neck is Yamato Bunkakan Museum, Japan, illustrated in Mayuyama, Seventy
painted with peony shrubs issuing from gnarled rockwork. The peony Years, vol.1, Tokyo, 1976, p.313, no.933.
itself became a symbol of riches and prosperity. The foot painted
with wispy ruyi-clouds imitating auspicious lingzhi fungi also contains
blessings for longevity.

24 | BONHAMS